For Charles and Peggy Bradshaw, dressing up as Santa and Mrs. Claus wasn’t just about putting on fancy red clothes and playing a part.

“They always wanted to be able to in some way pass on love and hope to other people,” said Charleen Miller, their daughter. When the couple was paid or tipped at their Claus engagements, “They gave every penny of that money away that they were given,” Miller said.

Peggy Bradshaw died on Dec. 15, leaving her husband of 62 years, four children, 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren behind. But she and her husband have left a legacy that permeates the holidays in Suffolk.

“They would go out and buy food and presents for families they heard about that weren’t going to have much,” Miller said, adding that they would sometimes do deliveries on Christmas Eve decked out in full Santa and Mrs. Claus gear.

Her mother was a Christian and enjoyed being able to spread the good news of Christmas, Miller added.

“I think my mom especially wanted to make sure all the focus wasn’t on Santa and Mrs. Claus,” Miller said. “For her to be able to share the love at the Christmas season, that came from her relationship with the Lord.”

Their faith also was the root for the things they did for those who were suffering, Miller said.

“She also knew Christmastime could be a really sad time for some people,” Miller said. “There were families that were not together; there were families that didn’t have money to buy gifts. For a lot of people, it was a time of feeling hopeless.”

That’s why her parents were driven to help others at the Christmas season, she said.

“They were always passing on to those families the hope of Jesus,” Miller said. “Santa and Mrs. Claus was like a mission to them.”

Charles Bradshaw said Tuesday that the couple were high school sweethearts at Suffolk High School. He played sports, and she was a drum majorette. They dated for four years and got married in 1953, the year she graduated.

They started playing the Jolly Old Elf and his wife when they were volunteered to play the part for their grandson’s school.

“I had to buy a fake beard and all of that,” Bradshaw said. “After two years, I said, ‘I’m not going to do Santa anymore, because this beard is about to worry me to death.’”

He came up with a solution the following year: Grow his own beard.

The couple appeared in their North Pole finery everywhere from Christmas parades to holiday parties. They also treated patients at Edmarc Hospice for Children to a party on their Milners Road farm, complete with a hayride and other fun.

“She just loved children,” Charles Bradshaw said of his wife. “She enjoyed talking to the children and seeing what they want for Christmas.”

Bradshaw’s funeral was held on Friday.